


Heroes

by redheadthunderhead



Series: We're in This Til the End [4]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Happy Ending, Normandy crew shenanigans, Post Destroy Ending, bad roommates, poorly explained medical things
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-22
Updated: 2016-07-28
Packaged: 2018-07-16 14:06:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7271341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redheadthunderhead/pseuds/redheadthunderhead
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She's saved the galaxy three times now, but Natalie Shepard's newest challenge is to deal with her friends who do not want to go home. </p>
<p>Post almost-Destroy ending where Reapers were the only synthetics to die and mass relay repairs are progressing faster than what is likely expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Shepard. You’re looking better.”

To say that Natalie Shepard was simply looking better would be a monumental understatement. As far as she was concerned, she should be dead. Hell, she may have been dead, but the doctors refused to completely answer that question. When she woke up the first few times she asked, demanded really, to be brought up to speed on what had happened since the Reapers were destroyed, but she was simply assured that the galaxy was recovering and someone who was better informed would explain everything. She had no idea who that someone would be at the time, but she sure wished they didn’t plan on sugar coating it. The call from Hackett was more than welcome. 

Her reported injuries sounded impossibly minor given the situation she had come out of at first. They were like scratches compared to what she should have sustained. A broken arm and a few broken ribs that were now healed, and a broken leg which was supposedly healed but still bothered her if she put weight on it for more than a few minutes. The doctors told her she just needed to work on getting her strength back. Eventually the doctors informed her of the most severe injury. Her bio amp fried at some point between rushing for the beam and being found, which should have killed her. The effect that had on her brain was miraculously not enough to kill her, however it was enough for the doctors to induce a coma the moment they got her to safety to give it time to heal. The doctors said to thank her cybernetics for her survival and quick recovery, but she would not thank anyone until she knew that her friends survived.

“You should see the other guys. They’re all dead.” Nat cracked a smile and took a sip of her coffee before squinting and shielding her eyes from the lights coming from the window. “Hold on a minute, I need to move. They’ve got power up on the strip for the moment, the lights outside are too damn bright.” She retreated to the back room in the apartment where her terminal was, switching the call to the screen behind the bar before sitting. “Yeah, I’m looking better, but I still feel like shit. Doctors let me out early as long as I don’t go out causing trouble. They didn’t even replace my amp yet. They want to make sure my brain is fully healed and all that. I was supposed to stay for another month. I probably would have if I hadn’t been there for nearly three already plus physical therapy.”

Saying that she was surprised that the apartment was still standing was just another understatement. She expected the Citadel to be destroyed, but it turned out that many of the wards sustained relatively minor damage considering the situation and a few were still habitable. The Presidium was the only section to take enough damage to be locked down. Thankfully most of the ambassadors, and more importantly the Council, had been evacuated before the Reapers took control of the station. After the Crucible fired and it was safe to investigate, Nat was found in the rubble caused by initial blast, unconscious but alive. She was brought to one of the remaining Alliance ships with a medbay even better than the Normandy’s until the Citadel was returned to where it belonged. 

The screen became staticky, but still clear enough for conversation. “Can you hear me, sir? The power is still a little unreliable until they get enough generators up.” 

“I can hear you.”

“Good.” Nat took a deep breath before her next question. “Have you heard anything about the Normandy?”

“That’s what I called to talk about,” Hackett answered. Nat braced herself for bad news. “Before the Crucible fired, I called off the fleets and had them retreat out of the initial blast radius. The Normandy did not follow orders and was forced to try to outrun the blast.” 

“Joker stayed behind to try to save me, you mean,” Nat said, looking down into the nearly empty cup of coffee in her hands. “Damn it…” 

“We lost contact with the Normandy, but thirty-six hours later we received a transmission. All present and accounted for.”

Nat’s gaze shot back up. The power flickered and she spoke quickly. “They’re alive? Where?” 

“They crash landed on an uncharted world. It took us three months to find them with the relay network down, and by then they were in the air and halfway to the Citadel. That’s the fastest I’ve ever seen an alliance ship repaired and spaceworthy after a crash like that.” 

“I have a few good engineers on my crew, and I guess you can say they had practice during the suicide mission,” Nat said, smiling again. She finished the last drink of her coffee. “Thank you for the information, sir. Do you know where they are now?” 

“I know you can be expecting visitors soon.”

The power cut off as if on cue, just as the tears started. She was thankful, too. It took so much effort to keep her emotions in check after leaving Earth when the attack began. She wanted to give up after Thessia. They made it, though, and as far as she was concerned she deserved a breakdown. She was just glad it was because of good news. Relief was not an emotion she expected to feel again. And if Earth was saved, the others must have made it out too. She made a mental note to check on that when the power came back. For now, all she could do was wait. 

Nat woke up on the couch with a headache. She guessed she had to have gotten at least a few hours of sleep judging by the time it took her to come back to her senses and remember where she was. The power was back on and that was good enough of a reason for her to get up and move, so she got her ass up and wandered into the kitchen to find the pain meds she left there when she got home. Hackett told her soon, but how soon did he mean? Were they already on the Citadel?

Her answer came in the form of Glyph whipping around the corner looking as happy as a VI without a face was capable of. Nat definitely did not scream. 

“Greetings, Commander!”

“What the fuck,” Nat said to herself under her breath. “Okay, Glyph, listen, that was not cool. Don’t...scare me like that again. What are you doing here? Am I running a VI babysitting service that I wasn’t aware of?” She sighed, collecting herself, and was silently thankful that nobody was around to witness that. “Not that I’m not happy to see you. Is Liara here?”

“Dr. T’soni will be returning soon.”

“Good. Do you know where anyone else is?” 

“I do not have that information.”

“You know, I find it hard to believe that the Shadow Broker’s information drone doesn’t keep track of the Broker’s friends,” Nat said, leaning against the counter. “Alright then, can you-”

The door to the apartment opened and Liara entered, and there was a brief moment where Nat stood in disbelief, not expecting to see anyone so soon, before a smile spread across her face. 

“Liara, you’re going to have to come over here, I’m technically not supposed to be up walking around,” she said, but Liara was already across the room and pulling her friend into a hug. “Careful, I’m broken,” she said, hugging Liara back even tighter and laughing through another wave of tears threatening to make themselves known. “Please don’t cry, I just had some sort of breakdown when I heard you were all still alive, I don’t have the energy to do that again.”

Liara laughed softly and finally pulled away. “You really can’t blame me for getting emotional seeing you up and around, can you? How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay. Tired. I think I feel like I got hit by a krogan charge just because I took a nap for a few months.” 

“I can’t believe they let you out already. I heard you only woke up a few days ago.”

“I can be very persuasive,” she shrugged, leaning against the counter. “I’ve been awake for almost three weeks, actually. It just took me this long for the doctors to decide I was clear to leave as long as I didn’t go out and punch any Reapers or anything. Plus I think I convinced them that I would be okay when I told them I was up and moving in less than a minute after being dead for two years. Who did you talk to?”

“When I saw that you were sleeping, I went and spoke with the doctors. Glyph stayed behind because I didn’t want to leave you alone.” 

“You went to make sure I didn’t lie about how I’m doing,” Nat corrected. “Well, I’ll tell you everything they told me. I’m not dead, my amp was fried and removed for now, and my cybernetics and all of those upgrades I got are probably the reason I’m alive.”

“I wondered if that was the reason. You spent a lot of credits on those.”

“Yeah, they kept me together for the most part. Gonna have to thank Miranda next time I see her. Anyway, do I want to know how you got in here?”

“Garrus gave everyone your door code.” 

“All that talk about security and he’s just holding the door open for everyone. Where is he? I figured he’d be there when I woke up.”

“We...didn’t think you’d be awake. Not so soon, at least. He’s on his way back from Palaven. And Tali is coming from Rannoch. When we arrived on the Citadel, the doctors told us that it would be a good time to take care of anything else, so Tali and Garrus went to check on progress on their homeworlds.” Nat nearly asked about Thessia and why Liara had not gone, but quickly stopped herself. “Clearly, they were wrong to assume you wouldn’t be awake. When I heard you were released, I let everyone know. I’m sure Garrus will be here as soon as possible.”

“Does that include everyone else? Jack and Miranda and the krogan…”

“Nat, are you sure want-”

“To have two krogan charging at me because they missed me so much? Absolutely. Call them up. We need a party to celebrate me not dying again.”

“As long as it isn’t like your last party.”

“No promises. Is the ship here?”

“Yes, I believe Joker and EDI are monitoring the repairs.”

“Then what are we doing here? I need to give him shit for putting you guys in danger. It’ll make me feel better. Come on, let’s go see what they’re up to.” Nat was out the door before Liara had a chance to argue, though she was moving slowly and limping slightly on her bad leg. “They fix literally everything else but can’t fix my damn leg,” she ranted as she went. 

“There’s nothing wrong with it, you just need to get used to using it again,” Liara offered. 

“Yes, but they fixed my damn shoulder that I’ve had problems with since Sovereign tried to give me a hug. I need to have something to complain about now that the Reapers are gone. It reminds me that I’m alive.”


	2. Chapter 2

Nat would have liked to say that she did not get emotional upon seeing the Normandy again, but she would have been lying. The ship had obvious damage. She never would have let her fly in this condition, and she was sure that Joker was not too happy with the state his ship was in. 

As expected Joker was with EDI, watching the repairs and talking about the ship. It all sounded like a foreign language to Nat, as did most of the conversations she had heard between the two. Joker was normally able to put things into terms she could understand, but EDI seemed incapable of doing that no matter how much she tried. Honestly, she was just glad that they both knew what they were doing. 

“Did I miss the wedding?” Nat asked as she approached

The pair turned, and Nat had to resist giving out hugs. She would probably break Joker, and she really could not say how comfortable EDI was with affection. 

“I thought you said she already proposed to you,” Joker answered. “What kind of friend would I be if I took your fiancée?”

“Yeah, I had to turn her down. I know how pretty you think Garrus is, I couldn’t take EDI from you too. Traynor’s the one you have to watch out for.” She felt better already, like she was home. “It’s good to be back.”

“It’s good to have you back, Commander.” 

“And EDI, I’m really glad to see you, but I need to talk to you when I get the chance. You’re not supposed to...be here.” 

“What do you mean?” Joker asked before EDI got the chance.

“Long story, I’ll tell you later. It’s crazy, sounds like some bullshit Zaeed could come up with. When I destroyed the Reapers I was told I would also be wiping out synthetic life.” Upon seeing the various looks from her friends, she added, “Hey, not my decision. Well. Okay. I had three options but the other two involved the Reapers not being destroyed and I couldn’t let that happen. Still. I did not do it with the intent to wipe out synthetics. EDI, I am sorry. Nothing happened to you after the Crucible fired, right?”

“No, I have been functioning normally since we retook the Normandy.” 

“That’s good,” Nat said, directing her attention to the ship. “Will they let us onboard?”

“Probably not, they kicked me out when I politely requested they get away from the AI core,” Joker answered. “Want to do it anyway?”

“Hell yes.” 

Nat noticed the sound of the drive core immediately. It should not have been as loud as it was, especially with so much other noise. During her time on the Normandy she had grown used to then sound and could really only hear it on the engineering deck, but there was no mistaking that something was wrong with it down, and EDI had to have been feeling it in some form. 

“She sounds like shit,” Nat announced. 

“Yeah, imagine having to fly through half of the galaxy like that,” Joker said. “The engineers did a great job keeping her running. I’m pretty sure they didn’t sleep.”

“Where’d they end up?”

“They’re doing something for the Alliance. I think Adams said they might get to work on the relays.”

“Do we even know how to rebuild them?”

“The ones closest the Sol system got hit the worst, but if Charon didn’t get destroyed I don’t think there are any total losses. I think the mass effect cores just overloaded.”

“If the Normandy’s drive core can vaporize engineers if it overloads, I can’t imagine what kind of damage a relay could do.”

“You did blow up a relay once. Don’t pretend like that didn’t happen.”

“That was you?” Liara asked.

“Yeah. Why do you think the Alliance was hiding me from the batarians? Anyway, yeah, I know that an exploding relay imitates a supernova, but if it’s just the core blowing up it’s only going to be like a…smaller supernova. It’s still going to fuck up any planets near it. Pluto is probably gone.”

“A reaper probably ate Pluto,” Joker said.

“Yeah,” Nat breathed, giving a half-hearted eye roll and shake of her head. She could excuse the jokes now that the threat was over. “Why are we standing around? I came here to make sure you guys didn’t fuck up my ship.” 

“Wait, I thought we agreed it was my ship?”

“It’s our ship, Joker,” Nat insisted as she started for the CIC. 

“But mostly mine.”

“No, mostly mine. I’m your boss.”

“Yeah, well, EDI’s my girlfriend, and she is the Normandy, so.”

When she saw the flickering galaxy map, Nat was quick to make her way over. She could see the active and inactive relays, but could not bring herself to check on the status of any planets. “How up to date is this?”

“It was updated upon our arrival to the Citadel,” EDI answered. “All nonessential functions were shut down in an attempt to save power, which included communication outside of the Alliance, when we reestablished connection with them. Samantha was able to receive the latest updates before the engineers began repairs.”

“Can’t you do it?”

“The engineers won’t let us touch anything,” Joker ranted. “Even made EDI disconnect from the Normandy until they’re ready for tech repairs.”

“That’s bullshit! She could be helping with them!”

“They’re scared of working with an AI. Adams was the same way when he came back.”

“That’s…” Nat huffed. An engineer entered and started heading for the elevator. “Hey! Tell whoever’s in charge that EDI is reconnecting to the Normandy. Commander Shepard’s orders.”

The young engineer looked terrified and amazed at the same time. Apparently word had not spread of her survival yet. “Y-yes, Commander,” she said before she definitely did not flee the scene.

“Alright, EDI, go help them out. And get the galaxy map updated when you get the time. See if you can help, Joker. You really shouldn’t be up walking around.”

“You shouldn’t either. I hear you shouldn’t even be out of the hospital.”

“Yeah, but I’m not going to break my leg walking around the ship.”

“Your leg was broken.”

“Yours is probably broken right now. Go sit down.”

“Now you sound like Chakwas,” Joker answered with very convincing mock disgust. “Alright, alright. Come on, EDI, let’s go see if we can scare the engineers.”

“Have fun!” Nat called over her shoulder as she and Liara headed for the elevator. She shifted her weight from foot to foot after sending the elevator down to the crew deck. “I think my leg is feeling better,” she said just before the doors opened and the sight of the memorial knocked the air out of her.

Legion. Ash. Thane. Mordin. Pressly. Anderson. The twenty other crew members killed with the first Normandy went down. 

“My name isn’t up here,” she noticed. “I thought you didn’t know I survived until you got back?”

“We didn’t, but he did,” Liara answered.

“I don’t know if you noticed, but Garrus wasn’t exactly the most optimistic turian we’ve met this time around. Even when I’m involved.”

“He never once doubted that you survived. When the rest of us were ready to mourn he convinced her otherwise. He was the one who finally got Joker to move. He said you were fine, and that you’d want us to be safe.”

“And he was right. I was trying to contact the Normandy one last time after I made it. That’s exactly what I was going to tell you.” It was cheesy, she knew, to love how she and Garrus could read each other’s minds. At least, she hoped she understood Garrus as much as she thought. Turians were difficult sometimes, and with the subvocals she was more than likely missing something. She nearly asked Victus when he was aboard the Normandy, then decided not to only to learn later that half of the turian military knew about the two of them. She was not sure if that was a good or bad thing. “Shit, I miss him. Any idea how long until he gets back?”

“You won’t be waiting long, I’m sure.”


	3. Chapter 3

Nothing ever went according to plan, but Nat would have been lying if she said she did not get her hopes up every time she got a new message. Nearly a week passed with no news from any of the crew. She kept in touch with Garrus as well as she could with comm traffic being just as backed up as relay traffic. Liara, Joker, and EDI were staying in the apartment but after the party a few months ago the whole squad had pretty much learned how to live together so three extra roommates did not prove to be much of a challenge, especially when only two needed to be fed. The Normandy’s repairs were still being done and that gave everyone an opportunity to get out of the house. 

When the door chimed unexpectedly one day while she had the apartment to herself, Nat nearly tripped down the stairs, dropping her beer on the kitchen counter as she rushed for the door. What she saw was not who she expected, but she was definitely not welcome.

“Mom?” Nat asked, eyes wide in disbelief. She was frozen for half a second before throwing herself forward into the hug that was waiting for her. “Holy shit, what are you doing here?”

“You’ve nearly died twice and I haven’t seen you in person for nearly five years, I thought it’s about time I fix that.” 

Nat finally pulled back. “Yeah, there have been some, uh, setbacks,” she said, heading back over to pick up her beer again. “That why you waited until you knew I was alive, or were you stuck in relay traffic too? I’ve been waiting for Garrus to show up for the past week.”

“I’ve been here for months, smartass,” Hannah answered. Nat snorted. The thing she loved most about her mother was how casual their conversations could be no matter what the topic. She still worried, like a mother should, but after Nat’s request upon first enlisting with the Alliance they agreed to not let their worry for each other getting in the way every chance they had to talk. “Hackett gave me leave until you were awake, and for your information I visited you several times while you were fighting for your life again. Then nobody told me you were awake otherwise I would have been here sooner.”

Nat blinked. “Damn, nobody told me you were here or I would have called you. Were you there one of the times I woke up?”

“Yep. They said it was the second time.”

“Did I say anything stupid?” 

“You seemed pretty coherent. You knew who I was, rambled about Garrus for a few minutes, and you were out like a light within the hour.” 

“I remember nothing at all,” Nat admitted, taking another drink. 

“Karin told me you shouldn’t be drinking.” 

“Nice try. I haven’t seen her since we hit Earth. Or did she watch me sleep, too?” 

“No, she’s been working on the other ward arms, but she told me to tell you she’ll stop by soon.”

Nat huffed and finished off her drink., “If one more person says “soon” I’m going to have to hurt them. “Soon” has turned into “whenever I get there” and I’m tired of getting my hopes up. I’ve been waiting for my boyfriend to get here for a week.”

“I’m sure he’s trying his best. I never thought a turian would care about a human so much.”

Nat raised an eyebrow. “Wait, you’re talking like you’ve met him.” 

“Not in person, but we’ve talked a few times after the first Normandy went down and before the Reaper invasion. I’m glad you finally found someone permanent.”

“Mom, I’m thirty-two, I’m done bringing every boy I see home and insisting I’m in love with him. I have to admit, I’m surprised you’re alright with him being a turian in the first place.”

“If I remember right, it wasn’t just boys, sweetie. And I have no problem with him being a turian, even if I’m not getting any grandkids.” 

Nat nearly choked on her drink. “We, uh, we talked about that on Earth. Biology isn’t going to be on our side, but there’s going to be a lot of krogan babies out there…”

“I was kidding. But if that’s what you decide to do, make sure you let me know.” 

“Will do.” 

They had over two hours to talk before Hannah had to leave, but it was two hours well spent as they caught up. Updates on the state of the galaxy quickly changed to the much less depressing topic of all of the trouble the Normandy and her crew got up to. She did not spend much time on the missions, but the last shore leave and the party it included had them both laughing. Garrus and Zaeed trying to rig every appliance in the apartment to explode, finding Grunt and Tali drunk off their asses in separate bathrooms, the shooting contest that happened in the area they were currently sitting, it all brought back memories and made Nat miss them all that much more. She hoped they would all stop by.

“Alright, I have to go,” Hannah finally said reluctantly. “Come here and give me a hug.” Nat stood, took a moment to let the room stop moving, and definitely did not start crying as she hugged her mother.

“I’m drunk. I drank too much,” she said to try to cover it up. It may have been partially true, she decided as she motioned to the empty bottles. “I can’t tell stories about my friends without being drunk it takes the fun away.” 

“You’ll be fine,” Hannah said, patting her daughter’s back before finally letting go. 

“You sure you can’t stay to meet Garrus?” Nat asked as she rubbed the tears from her eyes. 

“I wish I could. Go eat something and drink some water, you’ll feel better.”

“I’m an adult, I know how to take care of myself,” she snorted, picking up empty bottles. 

“You said that when you enlisted and look how well you took care of yourself.”

“I saved the galaxy, Mom,” she said as she followed her to the door. “Three times.”

“You sure did. You also nearly died twice.”

“I got better,” Nat insisted with a shrug. As Hannah continued to the door, Nat took a deep breath. “Hey. If you get the chance, stop by again. Maybe you’ll get to meet Garrus. I don’t think Hackett wants me out there for a while.”

“I will.”

The lights flickered, and Nat glared at the ceiling as if it would change anything.“You better go before they shut off power to the Ward. You’ll be locked in here for a few hours and Joker ate all the food in the apartment.” 

“Alright, alright, I’m going. Take care of yourself. Love you.” 

“Yes, mother,” Nat droned from the kitchen as she searched for something to eat. “Love you, mom.” She heard the door open and close and the lights flickered again. She settled for a bottle of water when she found nothing to after sending a message to Joker’s omni-tool: “Bring back food or don’t come back at all.”

She had the apartment to herself for another hour, long enough to check for any news from Garrus and drag herself up to bed where she couldn’t get into any more trouble. Her cybernetics were already working to get the alcohol out of her system but she was still feeling the effects. She tried watching Alliance news but shut it off moments later when she heard there were more and more people being found across the more distant colonies. All these months later and they were still finding people. Suddenly she wasn’t hungry anymore. 

A few minutes passed before she heard a voice downstairs. “They kicked us off the ship again!” Nat huffed and made her way down. 

“Joker I’m not going to go yell at the engineers every time they ask you to give them room,” she said. Joker was noticeably empty handed. “Where’s my food?”

“What?”

“You ate all the food.” 

“How do you know it was me?”

“Because Liara is a good roommate and feeds herself and EDI doesn’t eat. Plus I know for a fact you were one of the people responsible for eating everything before Garrus and I were up after the party.” Nat tried to look like she was mad, but the glare lasted no more than five seconds before she started laughing. “I’ve been drinking.”

“Yes you have. Why didn’t you say anything?”

“What else do you expect? I’m alone in an apartment with two bars for a few hours.”

“Fair enough,” Joker decided. “What do you want?” 

“You to replace the food you eat, that’s all I ask. I don’t mind that you guys are staying here, but I’m not babysitting. Go find your personal assistance mech and restock my damn kitchen.”

“You’re mocking me,” Joker accused. 

“That’s completely false,” Nat snorted. “That job belongs to Garrus. He’ll be back soon to flirt with you. I guess the relays can’t handle constant jumps.”

“Can’t we just order a pizza or something?”

“Oh, alright. But you’re going shopping tomorrow.”

“I like you better when you’re yelling at other people to get your way.” 

“Well, find me something else to save the galaxy from and I’ll get on that.”


	4. Chapter 4

Nat stared at herself in the mirror for several minutes before she even realized she was staring, and it was even longer before it processed that she was staring at herself. The war took a lot out of her, she finally began to notice. The weight she put on during her six months on Earth was gone, along with at least fifteen more pounds. Her black hair fell past her shoulder blades now and felt too heavy. During her recovery her cybernetics calmed down and allowed her scars to begin to heal. For the first time since the war began she could actually see that her eyes were blue. Part of her, a large part, was sad to see the healing scars. They had become a part of who she was, a sign of her survival after being rebuilt, and the reason she was winning the scar competition she had going on with Garrus. 

The tank top she wore revealed plenty of new scars she never noticed earning while fighting the Reapers, mixed with old, natural scars and the faintly glowing, artificial-looking looking scars left after being put back together by Cerberus. Many of the scars along her left arm were burns leaving patches of discolored skin, along with surgical scars from where her shattered arm had to be reconstructed. She remembered the pain in that arm more than anything else she felt in the minutes before the Crucible fired. She pulled up the bottom of her shirt to reveal a particularly nasty scar across her stomach. She did not remember what happened, but she did remember much it bled. 

As she looked back up to stare into her own eyes, she decided that she had enough scars to hold the lead over Garrus. And she loved every single one of them.

“I’m never going to have to pay for another beer,” Nat told Joker when she went down to the kitchen. She opened a pizza box and frowned when she saw it was empty. “You all owe me at least five beers each. I’ve been keeping track.”

“You owe me at least ten for saving your ass so many times,” Joker countered. “Feel free to pay up any--” He was interrupted by a beeping omni-tool. “Normandy’s doing flight tests, gotta go. Oh, the box under that still has pizza in it.” 

“You need any help getting there?” Nat asked, even as she watched Joker heading for the door while she took a bite out of a slice of pizza. 

“No. You’re not coming?” 

“Garrus sent me a message a few hours ago. He’ll be here any time. And now I have pizza. The two most important things in my life in one place, I can’t pass that up.” 

“Right, so you’re saying I should just stay away for a few hours?”

“Yeah, probably.” 

Garrus walked in within minutes of Joker leaving, and Nat’s first thought was how glad she was that nobody else was around. She nearly knocked him over with the force of her hug, standing on her toes so she could kiss him. As quickly as her sappy side came out, it was gone, and even as Garrus continued to hold her close and she had her face shoved into the side of his neck, she started laughing. 

“We did it. We fucking did it,” she said. “I thought for sure this would be it. Thought I’d destroy the Reapers and the universe would finally let me go.”

“You had me convinced that you planned to come back alive.” 

“Yeah, Liara said that you--let me go, I can’t breathe--Liara said you were unnaturally optimistic. What made you so sure I was coming back?” 

“You told me you were never going to another bar with me again.” 

“What does that have to...oh. Garrus, you know I was kidding. I’d follow you through hell as long as you don’t make me dance again.”

“Yeah, that was petty embarrassing.”

“Oh, well fuck you too,” Nat laughed. “I thought I did pretty well considering my dance partner is a turian who learned a human dance just to fuck with me. Anyway, I’m afraid to ask, but how are things on Palaven?” 

“Probably about the same as Earth, but I think turians work together better.”

“I’ll have to agree with you there,” Nat said. She made a face and swayed a bit before making her way over to a couch.

“You okay?”

She sat down heavily, head in her hands. “Yeah. I managed to fry my amp. They took it out for now but my implant is still in there. Screwed up my head a little. Still dealing with headaches and shit.” She exhaled slowly, shielding her eyes from the light coming in through the windows. “Shit, I was hoping we could make up for lost time,” she laughed despite the pain.

She keyed something in on her omni-tool and the lights in the apartment dimmed and the shutters closed over the window, blocking the obnoxious neon signs. The next minute Garrus was helping her up. 

“Wait wait wait, slow down,” Nat said, bracing herself against him as the room spun. “Shit. Great reunion, huh?” She leaned against his shoulder for a few moments, focusing on her breathing. 

“Are you sure you should be out of the hospital?”

“Yeah, this isn’t a regular occurrence or anything,” she answered, starting toward the stairs once she was sure she was not going to fall over. “Speaking of, Garrus, normally when someone wakes up from a coma they expect to wake up surrounded by loved ones or something. You know what I saw when I woke up? A salarian doctor and a light flickering in the corner of my room. I still can’t decide which was more annoying.”

“The doctors said you would have been out for another month at least. Besides, what would you have said if I was there?”

“I would have asked about… And then told you to…-” Nat huffed. “Alright, Vakarian. You win.” After a very slow walk up the stairs to her room, she sat on the bed. “I’m sure you’ve noticed that I look less like I’m half-robot.”

“I guess that means I-”

“Let me stop you right there. I still have more scars than you even if I didn’t have a Mako dropped on me. Harbinger fucking burned most of my armor away.” She pulled up her shirt to show off her scarred abdomen. “No idea where this came from, but it is new,” she said, tracing the most noticeable scar. She pulled one of the tank top’s straps to the side to completely show off one across her collarbone, then pointed out where the doctors repaired her arm, then a few on her legs that her shorts weren’t covering. “Most of them aren’t glowing, but they still count.” She groaned when her headache decided to remind her of its presence. “Everyone who’s here is busy on the Normandy. You’re stuck with me,” she said as she wrestled her way under the mass of blankets she had on the bed. “I’m taking a nap, come on.”

“No way,” Garrus said. Nat narrowed her eyes at him, then looked down.

“Oh, right. Sorry.” She kicked a few blankets off the bed and onto the floor, which seemed to be enough to satisfy Garrus. She stopped him when he tried to get in bed. “Ah, clothes off. If you’re making me lose the blankets you’ve gotta make up for it.” It was his turn to fix her with a stare, but he did not argue. Nat snuggled up against him when he finally got in bed, sighing contently as she warm plates against her skin. “I got cold without you here.”

“You’re always cold.” 

Nat answered by shoving her bare feet against his leg. “Don’t start this shit again,” she said, voice  
muffled. “Now shut up before my head explodes.”

“You’re the one talking.”

“Shhh….”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is just honestly pure fluff its so gross i'm sorry but Nat doesn't know how to be a productive member of society

When Nat woke up, there was no way she could have felt any happier than she did in that moment. Garrus was still next to her, still close enough for her to feel his natural body heat even though Nat had untangled herself sometime while she was asleep in favor of laying on her stomach. Her headache was gone and for the first time in a while she felt as though she slept well. Clearly, the nap turned into a several hour long sleep cycle. Normally she would have hated to sleep longer than she meant to, but now that she had nothing to do, she decided she could get used to this even though she never handled having nothing to do well. 

And she realized soon after that she _would_ be getting used to this. She just saved the galaxy again. She just united the races who had hated each other for centuries, and although it was unlikely that the good relations would last long, they were there for now while the galaxy put itself back together. There were still bad people in the galaxy, though, Hackett had even informed her of rogue mercenary groups and pirate gangs still causing trouble in the Terminus. The information was given for when and if she felt she could return to duty, but for now there was some sort of relative peace. No galaxy-threatening enemy in sight. 

She did it. They did it. And it was one hell of a ride. She remembered the day she was assigned to the Normandy, determined to go in as a military Commander and not as a friend. She remembered how long that lasted, realizing as they approached Ilos and she spent the hours beforehand in the cargo bay talking with Garrus and Wrex and Tali that during her hunt for Saren she made an amazing group of lifelong friends. Now, nearly three years later, she knew there was no way in hell she could have done any of this without them. 

She died, but her life was given back. Working with Cerberus was something she was determined to make as difficult for the Illusive Man as it was for her. New friends, new enemies, a suicide mission that she and the entire crew survived. And six months later she was sent to do the impossible again.

And she did it again.

She did not notice the tightness in her throat at first as she reflected on the past. It came after she rolled to her side to face Garrus. She reached up to brush her fingertips along a mandible, smiling when it twitched slightly. Her emotions caught up with her in that moment, hitting her with the force of a krogan, and she sighed, the exhale shaky as she felt the first tears sting her eyes. “Damn it,” she whispered to herself. Her emotions had been a mess for the past few weeks and she was starting to get tired of them. “Garrus. Hey,” she said louder, scooting closer and burrowing herself back into his arms. “I know you’re awake. You never sleep longer than me.” 

He pulled her even closer, causing her to have to wiggle around to get comfortable again. “Stop moving,” he rumbled. Nat laughed and rested her forehead against his, smiling when he finally opened his eyes. “That was more than a nap, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah. I think so.” Nat untangled herself and sat up, stretching until her back popped. “I wonder if the others made it back yet. This is the first time the Normandy’s been out flying since you guys got back.” She leaned over and patted Garrus on the shoulder. “Come on, get up,” she yawned. “Put your clothes back on, don’t want to scare Joker.”

The apartment was still empty when they made it downstairs. Nat called for Joker, Liara, EDI, and even Glyph and received no answer, which concerned her slightly because if this was the first time the Normandy was flying, they should not have been gone this long. Of course, knowing Joker he probably just wanted to spend as much time with his ship as possible. 

“Huh, I figured they’d be back by now,” she said. She turned to Garrus and smiled. “At least I’m not alone this time, it gets so boring here with half of the ward shut down.”

“Yeah, how have you managed to keep yourself busy?” Garrus asked. “For as long as I’ve known you I don’t think I have ever seen you willingly sit still.” 

“I think that’s why they knocked me out, honestly,” she laughed. “Well, I’ve been taking advantage of the bars. Annoying the crap out of everyone when I felt like leaving the apartment. Making everyone wish they weren’t here when they weren’t on the Normandy. No different than usual really. Just haven’t had my biotics to help out and I’m not moving as fast as I usually do.” She walked over and pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge and drank half of it before speaking again. “Are you okay with them staying here until we figure something out?” 

He shrugged. “It’s no different than the Normandy. Just more room and better food.” 

“Yeah, there’s no dextro shit here,” Nat said. “You’re on your own, buddy.” 

“I’ll take care of it.” 

Nat finished off her water and walked over, reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck. His hands found her waist. “Garrus, I don’t know how to be normal. I don’t remember what it’s like. Even when I was relieved of duty back on Earth I was still being treated as military. Now I’m here, Hackett doesn’t want me on duty until I’m recovered and the Normandy’s back in shape. I just…-” she paused, sighed. “I have no idea what I’m doing. Ever. I’m kind of a mess. I’m sorry.” 

“You haven’t scared me off yet.” 

“Just wait. I’ll do something weird and you’ll ask yourself why you decided you want to be stuck with me for the rest of you life. Honestly I’m surprised you haven’t--” 

Garrus effectively shut her up with a kiss. Nat gave a half-assed struggle, surprised by how sudden it was, but absolutely melted when she was pulled in closer. She was the first to have to pull away. 

“Point taken,” she said once she caught her breath. She pulled him back in, placing their foreheads together and sighing contently. “I’m so fucking happy you’re here. I don’t know what I did to deserve you.”

“Someone needed to watch your ass when you’re out there doing your best to get yourself killed.”

“You just ruined the moment.”

There was silence, and then they both started laughing. 

“Alright. We can figure this out,” Nat decided. “I mean come on, we’re allergic to each other and we figured that out. Speaking of which I need to get a hold of Chakwas and make sure I’m still clear to be taking all these immunoboosters and shit.”

“You haven’t been taking them?”

“Oh, no I took the last of them like an hour before you got here. I should be fine for another day or two. Actually, she told me a while back my immune system may get used to you eventually so I won’t even need them. Or maybe just an injection every month instead of three different medications. My mom stopped by and said Chakwas is on one of the wards helping out the doctors there. So you go get whatever you need, I’ll talk to her, and then hopefully we’ll hear from the Normandy sometime soon and we’ll know what the hell they’re up to. Then we’ll go from there.” 

“Sounds like a plan.”


	6. Chapter 6

Nat developed only two complaints over the next few days: dextro food had a distinct smell to it that was odd yet she was not completely revolted by, and Garrus kept changing the damn temperature in the apartment. The latter turned into a bit of a game. When she was not near him, she would turn it back down to something more comfortable for her, and wait to see how long it took for Garrus to change it again. Her body temperature naturally ran a bit colder after her Cerberus reconstruction, and she did not mind a bit of extra heat especially if it was coming from Garrus. Turians were naturally warm, and Palaven’s surface temperature was several degrees higher than Earth’s, or in Nat’s case the stations she grew up on. So she really could not blame Garrus for wanting the apartment to be warmer, but this was mostly her apartment and she was not about to let Garrus win. 

She finally gave in and confronted him when she woke up alone (which, admittedly, was a common occurrence since turians didn’t sleep as long as humans) and convinced she was swimming on the surface of the sun. As her senses started to come back to her she groaned, sitting up long enough to flip her pillow to the relatively cooler side before shoving her face back into it. A moment later she decided she was too uncomfortable to even try to go back to sleep. She dragged her ass out of bed, brought up her omni-tool to turn the temperature back down again, and stalked downstairs. 

She found Garrus sitting on a couch downstairs. He knew she was there. Nat learned pretty quickly that there was no way to sneak up on a sniper who was as well trained as Garrus was. Still, she came up behind him and lightly brushed the tips of her fingers along his fringe as she passed, smiling to herself when she noticed him tense. “I’m going to kill you,” she declared before he could speak, sitting on the other end of the couch in an attempt to avoid attracting any more heat. “Change the temperature again and I’ll send your ass to Noveria.” 

“Good morning to you too,” Garrus said, not even bothering to hide any amusement in his voice. Nat glared for a moment, then looked away and huffed to keep herself from laughing. “That’s what I thought.” 

“I’m serious. I don’t give a damn if Palaven’s a fucking radioactive rock, I’m not going to suffer because you think I keep the place too cold. You survived this long. And when the others get back you’re going to be outnumbered.” 

“You’re thinking of Tuchanka.”

“What?”

“Tuchanka’s the radioactive rock.”

“Tuchanka doesn’t exist,” she stated. It was a bad joke considering the war had only been over for a few months, but she knew that Tuchanka was not hit nearly as hard by the Reapers. Garrus opened his mouth to speak, but his omni-tool beeped and cut him off. “Normandy?” Nat asked.

Garrus checked the message and shook his head. 

“Dammit. Nobody will tell me where they went. Joker and EDI are both being smartasses, and Liara is just avoiding the subject all together. Says they’ll be here in a few days. I should ask Glyph. I don’t think a VI can lie.” The apartment was starting to cool down and Nat already felt better besides the headache trying to form. “Well, I guess you can all make up for not being there when I woke up. I get my amp replaced tomorrow and they’re going to hold me for a day or two after to make sure everything’s good.”

“I didn’t think it was invasive.”

“It depends on the person, really. Some people have an external port if they change amps often. Others chose to have it under the skin, but that means that if they have a different amp installed they have to do it surgically. That’s what I did. If it was just the amp that needed replaced, they just cut me open and stick it in there right under the skin. That’s why I only had mine changed a few times while we were hunting Saren. Cerberus put a pretty good one in there when the rebuilt me.” Nat pulled her hair up and turned her back to Garrus for a moment to show the scar at the point where her head met her neck. “In my case though, they had to remove the port entirely because it got damaged when my amp fried. So I just have the implant itself buried in my brain. I’m pretty sure it’s a little screwed up too, but getting it replaced is dangerous. That’s why Kaidan doesn’t get a better implant. I don’t want mine replaced anyway. I might get some headaches if I push my biotics too much, but that’s a sacrifice is one I’m willing to make.” 

“You’ve nearly died twice,” Garrus reminded her. Nat could not tell where he was going and gestured for him to continue. “If it’s something simple, don’t risk it.”

“I’m not going to die if I don’t have my brain cut into,” Nat said, brushing of his concern. Garrus did not seem convinced, so Nat gave in and crawled over to his side of the couch. “I’ll tell you what,” she began, placing a hand on the side of his face. “If anything goes wrong, if my implant fucks up at all, I’ll let the doctors do whatever they want. I’m not done annoying the hell out of you.” She leaned forward and kissed the other side of his face. “Don’t worry.”

“I’m not.”

“Yes you are, I can hear it in your voice. I don’t even want to know what’s going on with your subvocals. Come on, I’m trying to be good girlfriend here.”

She did not know that the TV was on until now, so she froze when she heard Earth being mentioned. It was nothing she had not heard before now. The death toll had finally levelled out, and that took a lot of stress off her mind. Still, over half of Earth’s population was dead or still missing. She remembered seeing the unrecognizable masses of bodies when the beam transported her to the Citadel. The smell, the pain she was in, the fear that threatened to immobilize her. It was all fresh in her mind again, and she felt dizzy.

“Nat?” She felt a hand on her back and jumped.

“Turn it off,” she said. Her voice did not sound like her own. She settled back down to sitting, putting a hand up and shaking her head when Garrus reached out to her. “Wait. I’m-” She was shaking and there were tears in her eyes. Her heart was racing in her chest and her thoughts turned into senseless noise. She bit down on her lip hard enough to draw blood to choke back a sob. “Turn it off.”

“It’s off,” he said, waiting for some indication that she was ready to be touched. Moments like this were rare, but he learned what she needed when they happened. Usually it was simply space.

“There were so many bodies, Garrus. Alliance, civilian, some you couldn’t even recognize as a body. It was worse than the Collectors.” She was determined to keep herself from breaking down, taking deep breaths and even getting up to and moving around the room. Garrus had seen her at her worst too many times and Nat felt terrible when she could not keep her emotions in check. After a moment she shook her head, sighed, and sat back down, rubbing her eyes. Another few moments passed before finally leaned against his shoulder. “Sorry. How’s Palaven doing?” 

Garrus did not answer right away, and then he almost did before he stopped himself. “Are you just asking because you want something to talk about?”

“I actually do care, but...yeah,” Nat admitted, reaching over to take one of his hands in both of her own. “I guess it’s probably no better than it was a few days ago.”

“You don’t need to be worrying about what’s going on in the galaxy right now. Worry about getting better yourself.” 

“I’m alright, Garrus. I just...don’t like having the chance to think about all of this. And I don’t like not having anything to do. I’m apparently too fragile to go out and do anything.”

“There’s nothing to do on the Citadel anyway. You aren’t missing out.” 

“Once I get this amp replaced and Joker gets his ass back here with my ship we’re going out and causing trouble.”

“That’s your plan?”

“Yep. Just go out there and see what the Reapers left for us to check out,” she said, and after a brief pause added, “for now, since I can’t drink before tomorrow,” another pause for effect, “I bet you can’t stay awake through all the Blasto movies.” 

“Really?” 

“It’s either that or we watch Fleet and Floatilla.”

“Blasto it is.” 

“That’s what I thought,” Nat laughed. “But I need a shower first. I feel gross.” She stood and made it upstairs before she looked back down at Garrus. “That’s an invitation, Vakarian, let’s go.”

Their little competition may have started later than expected, but it was not until midway through the fifth movie that they finally started questioning themselves. Nat started messing around on a datapad a few minutes later, which they both agreed was cheating since it was something else to focus on. It was confiscated by Garrus twenty minutes into Blasto 6.

“Hey, you’re not C-Sec anymore, you can’t just take my shit,” Nat argued, half asleep anyway. “Rude.”

“You’re cheating,” Garrus reminded, moving the datapad out of her reach as she made a very unenthusiastic grab for it.

“Yeah, I thought we agreed to let it go,” she retorted, sitting up from where she had been laying with her head in his lap and climbing over him to make another grab. “If I had my biotics, I’d kick your ass.”

“Are you saying you couldn’t do it without them?”

“Are you questioning my ability to kick your ass?” Nat challenged, halting her attempt at recovering the lost datapad. “You trying to say something?”

“Remember, I was a top hand-to-hand specialist.”

Nat settled back down on his lap, voice lowering slightly. “Mhm, and I seem to remember something about reach and flexibility. And also you getting your ass kicked.”

“It was a tie.”

“Sure, a tie that ended in sex. Seems like a pretty common end to a story when it comes to turians.” She gave a half smile, fingers reaching up to trail a featherlight touch along his fringe. “I’m glad that translates to us.” She focused on ignoring the hand slowly trailing up her thigh. “And I think we both know who wins.” Garrus was already out of banter, and Nat just laughed when she saw him trying to form words. “Experience always wins, babe.”

“Well you and all of your “experience” still get confused,” Garrus said.

“Yeah, well, I’ve been with men and women, but only human. And a couple of asari. Can’t expect me to be able to adapt that quickly. You still haven’t figured out everything either, if anything I’m giving you a fighting chance.”

“And you still cheat with biotics.”

“Bullshit,” Nat laughed. “you love it.”

“I don’t think the Alliance approves of your questionable use of biotics.”

“When I get them back, I’ll show you how much I care.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm not happy with this chapter at all but it's been too long

Nat was dazed when she started regaining her senses. All sounds around her felt too far away. Her vision did not want to clear and for several moments all she could make out were lights and vague, blurry shapes. Her head hurt, but that was expected after the surgery. The doctors advised her to have her implant entirely replaced after the new bio amp did not function properly and caused her more pain than before. She promised Garrus that she would do everything she could, and as reluctant as she was to have everything replaced, she was not a liar and had the procedure done. Anything was better than the pain her implant started causing her.

“Natalie?” Hearing her name sounded strange and it took her a moment to locate the source. She felt like she was working in slow motion. Next to her was a young nurse, barely out of med school. “I’m sorry. Commander Shepard,” she corrected sheepishly. 

“No. It’s okay,” Nat said slowly, knowing somewhere in her mind that she was probably difficult to understand as she still felt the effects of sedation. 

“How are you feeling?” 

“Tired. Head hurts.” She reached up to rub at the base of her skull over where she knew the implant went in, feeling that some of the hair was shaved there. “Oh...that’s going to help.” When she noticed the confused look on the nurse’s face, she added, “my boyfriend tries keeping our apartment hot. My hair’s really heavy.”

“The turian?” 

“Mhm, he’s kind of a pain in the ass... But I love him...he’s been here for me since we met, and...wow I love him,” her voice pattern was erratic as she spoke, sometimes sounding more like she was talking to herself. “We’ve saved the galaxy together and I only died once. We’ve been through a lot.”

“He’s been asking about you,” the nurse said with a smile, one that seemed genuine and not a forced smile from someone who just wanted to seem polite. “I’ll let him know you’re awake once I’m finished here. We want to monitor your condition for a few hours since you had complications before, but you should be out before the day is over as long as you take it easy.”

“One of my friends is a doctor. I’m sure she’ll try to keep me from doing anything stupid.” 

After the first procedure that replaced her amp, Chakwas stopped by the apartment to check up on her. Nat felt fine initially, other than the expected head pain and occasional flare ups of her biotics. The real complications did not begin until she actually attempted to use her biotics. When she did that, she was convinced she had just been shot in the head. The pain was enough to bring her to her knees and cause her to be unable to focus on anything other than the feeling that her nerves were on fire. She remembered little after. Reassuring Garrus. Agreeing to having her implant changed as long as it was the same one. Waking up once or twice after for just long enough to remember where she was. 

She was much more aware now, and that only increased as time passed. She began to feel like she could move with a little more coordination and she felt the familiar presence of her biotics as her body readjusted to the new amp. She would likely have some trouble for the next few days, but she already knew that the situation was much better.”

“Alright,” the nurse said cheerfully after checking a few more numbers. “Everything looks good. I’ll go talk to the doctors and we’ll work on getting you out of here.”

“Thanks. Tell Garrus I’m in here?”

She did not remember closing her eyes, but when she felt something touch her hand she jumped slightly and opened her eyes to see Garrus. 

“Shit...Was I asleep long?”

“A few minutes. You okay?”

She relaxed a bit, “Much better than a few hours ago. And this time I’m not lying.” To prove her point she sat up. “C’mere,” she said, pulling Garrus over for a kiss with a bit more force than necessary. “We breaking out of here? I’ve stolen my ship and basically broke out of jail when I left Earth. And nothing we did while fighting the Collectors was legal. I need a hospital break. Nobody ever invites me theirs.”

“Exactly one of our friends have broken out of a hospital, and he got arrested.”

“See! I even lied to get Grunt out of trouble.”

“You lied to C-Sec?”

“Oh come on, you know better than anyone that everyone lies to C-Sec. It just worked for me. I’m Commander Fucking Shepard, I can look at someone a certain way and get what I want. Especially when my eyes were glowing.” She had a smug smile on her face, looking much more proud than someone who just admitted lying to C-Sec should. She took his hand and lowered her voice. “So, how about that hospital break?” 

“Maybe next time,” Garrus answered. 

“You’re no fun.” 

Within an hour, Nat began to grow impatient. As hour two rolled around, she was very thankful that Garrus was there this time to keep her entertained and Garrus was pretty sure Nat would try to make a break for it at any second. She wanted to be out, she wanted to be moving, she wanted to be testing out her biotics again and make up for lost time, but she might as well have been tied down. She hated being restrained. Her pain was bearable now and her thoughts finally felt completely clear. She was just getting to the point where she was ready to start trying to talk her way out when she was finally released. 

Her suggestions to go cause trouble around the Citadel were declined by Garrus, which made her suspicious. She saw the Normandy was back on the way to the apartment, so she expected Joker, EDI, and Liara to be back, but she did not expect anyone else. When the door slid open, she saw that three more friends had joined the party: Tali, Kaidan and James, and for a brief moment she was actually worried that there were more. 

When all eyes fell on her, she laughed. “You all have the worst timing.” 

“These are the only ones who wanted to see you,” Joker replied. 

“Damn, why is it that every time I almost die I have to win everyone over again?” Nat laughed again, pulling Garrus along with her as she crossed the room. With a pointed look and barely contained smirk directed at Kaidan, she added, “You’ll all be happy to know that I didn’t sign on with whoever plans to threaten the galaxy this time.” 

“You’re not going to let that go, are you?” Kaidan asked.

“Not until you all leave me alone about the fishtank incident,” Nat answered. “It’s good to see you guys, but I’m really fucking tired.” She leaned back, half against the back of the couch and half against Tali who happened to be closer than Garrus. “How are things on your end of the galaxy? Are the geth still helping out or are you all trying to kill each other again?” 

“My people and the geth are still cooperating. Some quarians are already living permanently on Rannoch, and we can already go longer periods of time without our suits,” Tali explained. “I couldn’t take my mask off right now, but if I were home I could.”

“Are you one of those living on Rannoch? I remember we picked out a few locations for you.” 

“Not yet. I’m working very closely to the geth and don’t get to spend much time on the planet. I know more about them than some of our top mechanics.”

“You’re all grown up now. And I told you waking up Legion was a good idea, even though I didn’t believe it myself at first,” Nat said, nudging Tali in the side. “What about you, Kaidan? You working with your biotic team or doing Spectre business?”

“Helping out on Earth, mostly. James and I decided we’d be most useful there.”

“Wait. Joker went all the way to Earth to pick you up? Is that why he took my ship for so long?”

“Nah, we just heard you were up and around so we came to make sure you didn’t blow up the Citadel or something,” James answered. 

“You came for the free beer,” Nat corrected, sitting up and stretching in an attempt to stay awake. “Am I wrong?” Kaidan and James exchanged looks.

“That...may have been a factor,” Kaidan said. “But we did come to see you. Or, at least I did. I can’t speak for James here.”

James did his best to sound offended. “What, Lola, you don’t think I didn’t miss you?” 

“Alright, alright.” Nat raised her hands in defence before leaning back. “Have you started N7 training yet?”

“Not yet. I’m waiting for things to calm down.”

“Well, since you aren’t in the middle of military training too, you should get it done faster than me. I got my commendation a year and a half after I started my Alliance training but didn’t finish until ‘77, so that’s four years?” She paused, sighed. “I still say it was because I survived Akuze. ‘Hey, nice job, you didn’t die,’ or some shit. Sort of suspicious since it took me a whole year just to get through N1. You’re already a good soldier though, you’ll be fine.”

“Thanks, Lola.”

Nat leaned against Garrus, head on his shoulder, and yawned. She felt exhausted, but could not bring herself to break up the conversation, so she let the others talk, occasionally butting in with her usual comments until she was too tired to keep her eyes open.

“I don’t think turians look very comfortable,” she heard James remark. 

“It hasn’t stopped her,” Garrus answered. 

“He’s warm,” was the last thing Nat mumbled.

“I’ll take your word for it.”


End file.
